Our Options in Korea: Only One Is Lawful and Peaceful, by Paul W. Lovinger

Negotiation may not be the perfect option in Korea, but it’s better than any of the others. From Paul W. Lovinger at antiwar.com:

Peace talks follow a war. Why not hold those talks first and skip the war?

Donald Trump, who boasts of his art of the deal, said on May 1 he would be honored to meet with North Korea’s leader.

Now he accuses the North of “very, very dangerous behavior,” contemplating “pretty severe things” as the military provides “options.” And the top U.S. general in South Korea, Vincent Brooks, warns he can commence war at any time.

What changed? Moon Jae-in won election as South Korean president in May, upon promising better relations with Pyongyang. On July 4 the North announced its launch of a long-range missile. Is our military more worried about the North attacking America or about peace displacing us from Korea?

Military’s “options” probably don’t include a peaceful solution. But it’s the only sure way to avoid disaster. The 1950–53 Korean war killed millions – without nuclear weapons.

If Trump still believes in his deal-making skills, let him go to Pyongyang, a la Nixon to Beijing.

He’ll be welcomed.

The Tokyo-based paper Chosun Sinbo, known as a Pyongyang mouthpiece, says “avoiding armed conflict and seeking ways to find a clue to settle it via diplomatic negotiations have become a pressing issue that the international community can no longer turn away from.”

Talks with North Korea could achieve compromise, as in past years. Both sides might halt displays of force: Northern missile tests and US-South Korean military exercises. North Korea might possibly suspend its weapons development, as we end sanctions and deliver food.

Don’t expect Northern dictator Kim Jong-un to destroy nukes overnight. He needs them, not to attack, which means suicide, but to avoid the fate of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qadaffi. Kim distrusts a nation that overthrew governments in Chile, Guatemala, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Panama and seeks Syrian regime change.

Besides, what moral authority remains after A-bombing civilians and making thousands of huger bombs? Trump reaffirmed Obama’s plan for a trillion-dollar program to “modernize” our nuclear weapons and their delivery system (violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and – like North Korea – boycotted the UN proceedings for a nuclear-abolition treaty.

To continue reading: Our Options in Korea: Only One Is Lawful and Peaceful